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(The Lord's Prayer - Part 2)
The Lord's prayer is often used as a model for how we Christians should
structure our own prayers; Praise - Petition - Praise. This is good
and we can learn a lot from how Jesus says prayer should be offered
in that time before He died for our sins.
Our Father who is in heaven,
In this article we will look at the second part of the first section on
'Praise' as exemplified by the statement, "Your kingdom
come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven".
In this verse Jesus lets us know a number of things about the will of
God and it's desired impact on the earth through us! Because of the
relationship that we have with Father God we are enabled to do marvelous
things in advancing the kingdom, His kingdom, here on earth.
So Jesus tells us first - God's kingdom come, God's will be done on earth!
As one says this prayer or thinks about this verse the question should
come to mind - "who will bring God's kingdom to the earth"? And, the
answer should not be far from your mind either!
When Jesus came to the earth 2000 odd years ago He said this
about Himself.
Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
This is what Jesus was sent here by God the Father to do in His earthly
ministry. You see here a snapshot of what Heaven is like. It is full
of 'Good News'. All have 'liberty', all are 'free'. There are no 'blind'
persons in Heaven. There are no 'oppressed' people. And all walk in the
'favour' or 'grace' of God.
This is the kingdom of Heaven that God wants brought to the earth and
Jesus was sent to do it during His lifetime. It was an ongoing mission!
So now that Jesus has returned to Heaven, what has become of this mission
from God?
John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father
has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
We know that Jesus gave His followers the commission to, "Preach the gospel
in all the world", but the gospel proclamation includes 'healing the sick,
cleansing lepers, raising the dead and casting out demons'.
And if we look at Luke, Chapter 10, we see Jesus sending out the seventy believers
(ordinary believers just like us) to heal the sick and tell them the kingdom of
God had come near to them! Jesus expected them to give proof first through miracles!
Luke 10:8-9 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before
you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
That's all part of what believers in Jesus are commissioned to do till He
returns. That is bringing God's kingdom to the earth and having God'd will
being done on earth, as it is in Heaven!
The bible tells us that God, "wishes above all that we prosper and be in
health, even as our soul prospers" (3 John 1:2). There are two kinds of
prosperity mentioned here which God desires that we have, so these also
must naturally be part of the kingdom proclamation.
To make sure that we did not think that bringing kingdom blessings to the
earth now was a requirement only for special people, Jesus had this information
about the 'faith filled abilities' of believers recorded for our benefit...
Mark 16:17-18 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name
they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick
up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will
not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
And Jesus has not taken back this command to believers! But we have to be
believers who actually believe what Jesus says. We must have faith in God.
So I hope that you realize that this verse, "Your kingdom come, Your will be
done on earth as it is in Heaven", is a call to arms for us to let the God who
is in us continue doing the work which He started in Christ Jesus,
through His current disciples/followers, you and I.
Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus
began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up...
In the three years that Jesus was on the earth He 'began' to do and to teach
the things God wanted done to bring the kingdom to the world. Having began that
work in person, He continues it through us today, if we believe Him and let Him
live through us.
God is here with us and in us now. Jesus is living in us and as with Paul, He
wants to do all things through strengthening us. We do not have a weak Jesus
in us. He is as powerful now as in the past and we can do everything He did
then, if we exercise faith.
When we speak the words of the Lord's model prayer, let's understand what it
means for us today, and put our lives at the disposal of Jesus, the King of
the kingdom, to work the works of God.
Amen, come Lord Jesus!
Best wishes for grace and the peace of Jesus.
How should We Pray? Click Here.
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